Barcelona have criticised Uefa for not doing more to help clubs whose travel plans have been hit for this week’s European ties.
Barca and several other clubs face arduous overland journeys due to the volcanic ash cloud that has curbed air travel throughout Europe.
Uefa decided against rearranging the knock-out games until the ash has cleared, meaning Barca arrived in Italy on Monday morning for the semi-final tie with Inter after a 14-hour coach journey that was broken up by a night in Cannes.
The Spanish champions technical secretary Txiki Begiristain was disappointed with the governing body’s stance.
“Uefa must be flexible,” he said. “I know that there aren’t enough dates to play but in the end you have to make an effort so as not to give one team an advantage, in this case the home team.
“At this moment in time, making a team travel by coach belongs to a bygone age.
“I would have made the effort to bring forward some league matches to leave a weekend free for the Champions League. Something should have been done not to give this advantage to the home team.”
However, Begiristain is confident that the incentive of playing for a place in the Champions League final will help the holders to overcome any signs of fatigue.
“This is the last step before the final,” he said. “There’s no tiredness here.
“It’ll be really intense with defensive concentration being key.
“A Champions League semi-final is already tense by definition.”
